ARCHEOLOGY 

 FOWKE 



] MOUNDS AT WILLIAM6VILLE 31 



sheet of mica, trimniod smooth on the edges, whicli was found loose in 

 the earth a foot beh»w the summit. 



The last mouud was 18 inches higii and 20 feet in diameter. Parti- 

 cles of charcoal occurring 2 feet below the natural surface in the central 

 portion showed tliat a hole had been dug to that depth and then filled. 

 It contained one broken arrowpoint. 



Each earth mound had a depression around the base, whence earth 

 had been taken to construct it. 



HIGHLAND COUNTY. 



CLOVER <KKKK. 



On the farm of Mr George IJevercomb, 5 miles above the mouth of 

 the Bullpasture, is a mound 3 feet high and 00 feet in diameter. The 

 bottom on which it stands contains about 200 acres of fertile land, all 

 of which is subject to frequent overflow. 



For 40 years human bones and teeth have been plowed out every 

 time the mouud was cultivated. Arrowheads and flint chips are 

 numerous in the field around; but the only indications in the vicinity 

 of a village or camp arc found on the top of a high rounded knoll a 

 mile below the mound, where quantities of mussel and periwinkle shells 

 have been plowed up. 



Beginning at the northwestern side a trench 35 feet wide was carried 

 nearly to the opposite margin. Human bones were found almost to the 

 limit of the excavation on every side. 



At 18 feet outward from the center was a hoh^ 3 feet in diameter, dug 

 after the mound had been carried to a height of 2 feet, and extending 

 through the clayey subsoil to the underlying gravel. In the bottom 

 was a layer of bone about an inch thick. On this was a layer 2 inches 

 thick of charcoal containing linden, oak, and poplar bark, small twigs, 

 and several fragments of charred cloth. Eesting on this was a second 

 layer of bone, just above which were fragments of a pot whose capacity 

 had been 5 or 6 gallons. This seemed to have been placed in the hole 

 unbroken, as many of th^ pieces held their proper position around the 

 sides of the cavity, which was lined with charred cloth. In and above 

 the vessel were 10 or 12 large stones. The character of the bones could 

 not be determined, as they were entirely decayed, forming a soft, sticky 

 mass. 



Skeletons, or traces of them, were continually discovered. None of 

 the remaining seemed to have been buried at full length, though this is 

 uncertain. Often a thin layer of decayed bone only a few inches across 

 would be all that was left. Usually the skeletons occurred singly; 

 sometimes 3 or 4, in one place 5, skulls were found almost in contact. 

 All the bones whose condition was such as to allow of examination 

 seemed to have been compactly bundled. In many instances bowlders 

 were placed on the bones, and in 2 or 3 cases bodies had been laid on 



